BBDO India CEO Suraja Kishore moves on

After six years of helming the CEO’s responsibilities at BBDO India, Suraja Kishore is moving on. He joined the Omnicom-owned advertising agency in 2019, and during this period, he also led teamX India, which worked on Mercedes-Benz in the country for the agency holding network.

He told afaqs!:
I am not moving on; I am moving forward.

I have always chosen people over company. I chose Josy, and we have had a wonderful, intuitive partnership.

BBDO is not a company; it’s a culture with its own tribe! Nurturing and growing this tribe has been one of the most fulfilling experiences.

I am not moving on from here; rather, I am moving forward with a huge sense of discovery. To borrow from Proust, the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes, and to get those new eyes, one needs to break away from the land one belongs to.

Also Read: BBDO India CEO on the return of effectiveness, rivals, and why creativity must create value

During his tenure, BBDO India won the D&AD White Pencil in the Sustained Impact category for Ariel’s Silent Separation film, part of the long-running Share The Load campaign. It is one of the highest accolades for creative work that makes a real difference in the industry and society.

Kishore joined BBDO from McCann Erickson (now McCann Worldgroup), where he had worked for five and a half years. In a career spanning two decades, he has also worked at Publicis Groupe, Lowe Lintas, and Mudra Communications.

His departure comes at a time when Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG is being finalised in several markets. Shortly before his exit, IPG-owned McCann Worldgroup saw its chief strategy officer, Jitender Dabas, join Cheil X as CEO.